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Food

THE FASTER WE GO, THE FATTER WE GET

Is this fat enough, er, I mean fast enough for you?
Is this fat enough, er, I mean fast enough for you?
I was chatting with our small town liquor store owner about what this tiny town is doing to plan for the future doubling in population over the next 20 years, and he pointed out that there were no fast food joints here. I was thinking what a good thing this was but apparently, his customers are not happy about it. I guess the A&W, the Subway, the Coffee shop, an ultra-fast take-out Mexican restaurant, two pizza places which also make sandwiches to order and a well-stocked deli at the grocery store aren’t fast enough for them.

What they are really looking for are more drive-through windows, as opposed to the A&W pull-in/pull-out option. All the other current options demand that you get out of your car and walk into a building to place your order.

And I think this is a good thing, given the staggering levels of fat people in this country. According to this story from Associated Press this morning, both rates are on the increase for American men and children.

“According to the government’s most accurate recent check of the nation’s girth, U.S. men and children are increasingly tipping the scales. But the obesity rate among women – who at 33 percent are heavier as a group – held steady.

The study found the percentage of men who are overweight rose to 71 percent in 2003-2004, from 67 percent in 1999-2000. The obese percentage rose to 31 percent, from 27.5 percent.

For women, both the overweight and obese percentages held steady, at about 62 percent and 33 percent, respectively.”
You are overweight if you weigh 25% more than your ideal body weight and obese if you are overweight by 30%. You can calculate your Body Mass Index of BMI here. According to the BMI charts, my middle of the road “ideal body weight” is 145. I feel quite large at 155. At 165, I would be into the overweight zone and I would qualify for obesity status at 197 pounds. I hope I never get there. And I know that if this town lets McDonald’s/Wendy’s/Burger King or others of their ilk set up shop here, I am not putting one thin dime of mine into their pudgy, greasy fingers.

By Camille Armantrout

Camille lives with her soul mate Bob in the back woods of central North Carolina where she hikes, gardens, cooks, and writes.